DELTA, Colo. (KKCO) - Nathan Yager has been found guilty of second degree murder in the murder of his wife, Melinda, in 2011.

According to our friends at the Montrose Daily Press, Yager was found guilty today. The Delta jury rejected an argument he was less culpable because his wife provoked him into a 'heat of passion.'

Yager pleaded insanity, but the judge threw that out and told jurors to ignore that effort.

Melinda Tackett Yager died Jan. 7, 2011, after Yager chased her down, beat her and cut her throat. The couple had been going through a bitter divorce.

Yager's to be sentenced in February and faces between 16 and 48 years in prison for the crime.